Unfamiliarity
by Nilmiel
Summary: The sky is everywhere. It’s not like this sand, or a desert, or a forest that ends at a cliff or an ocean. The sky is infinite, you know?


_Disclaimer: They does not belong to me._

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Unfamiliarity

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Vaan couldn't sleep.

He'd been tossing and turning in the sand on the Phon Coast for at least an hour, and he wanted to get in at least some sleep before it was his turn to take up the watch. It wasn't really even the sand that was bothering him; he'd slept on the sand in the Dalmascan sands, Ester and Wester both. It was the strange humidity. In the desert, everything was dry and cool at night, but here, he could taste the moisture in the air, and the sand clung to his skin in an uncomfortable way. There was no way to keep it off of him, no matter how he positioned his sleeping bag, it always found a way to creep inside. He'd given up trying.

Sighing, he turned onto his side and watched Penelo beside him. She was curled into herself, her hand tucked behind her ear. At least she was one familiar thing out here. He hadn't really considered how enormous Ivalice was before he had left Rabanastre. The sheer immensity of it took him by surprise. He was glad he'd gotten out here, to be sure, but this Ivalice wasn't at all the one he pictured.

Part of it was probably that he imagined going by airship. He understood why they couldn't have brought the _Strahl_, especially since they had been seeing Imperial airships everywhere. But then again, they hadn't really taken the Strahl anywhere- maybe just to Bhujerba and back.

There was no fighting it. He was fully awake now. His reverie had done just the opposite of what it had been meant to do and had completely awoken him. He groaned and threw the blanket off of him. He decided that he might as well go and relieve one of the two on watch. Sleep was doing an astounding job evading him, and he imagined one of them would be glad of some rest.

Vaan rose as silently as he could manage, trying to effectively tip toe around Penelo and a sleeping Ashe. He skirted widely around Basch, not wanting to startle the warrior in any way for fear of him waking up.. He'd heard stories that people who had been in wars tended to kill people who startled them awake by accident, and he wasn't a bout to test the theory now.

Balthier and Fran were sitting a small way off from the group keeping watch for any Silver Lobo that might stray near to the camp. Vaan could hear Balthier going on about something to Fran, and he would occasionally reach up and absentmindedly finger a strand of her hair. Fran's ear twitched towards Vaan, but didn't otherwise give any indication that she knew he was approaching. Vaan caught a small bit of Balthier's words as he came to stand behind him- something about the "damn old man".

"Did you and Basch get in a fight or something?" Vaan asked.

Balthier nearly jumped a foot in the air, and reached for his gun before he caught himself. "Damn it, Vaan!" He exclaimed in a loud whisper. "You're lucky I didn't put a bullet through your skull." He shoved the gun back into its holster and turned away from the boy to face the sea again.

"Perhaps you are not fit to be keeping watch if you cannot notice a boy sneaking up behind you." Fran said, not turing around to look at Vaan. Vaan couldn't tell if she was just joking or was serious. Unlike the sky pirate, he was still quite unused to Viera mannerisms.

"You forget, Fran, that I lack a number of your assets." Balthier said.

Fran twitched her ears in slight annoyance, but otherwise didn't give any sign of emotion or acknowledgement that she had heard him. "Did you need something? The hour of our watch has not yet passed." She said, turning her attention to Vaan.

"Um, well," Vaan began, putting a hand behind his head and shifting nervously in the sand. "I couldn't sleep. The waves are kinda noisy, honestly, and the sand sticks everywhere."

"You ought to be used to sand." Balthier intoned lazily. "But if it's a case of insomnia, I suppose it can't be helped."

"You are not the only one having trouble gaining sleep as of late." Fran told Vaan, inclining her head towards Balthier.

"Fran, please." The sky pirate groaned. He flicked some sand at Fran, which she ignored.

"You can't sleep either?" Vaan asked.

"Fran doesn't know what she's talking about." Balthier quickly retorted, earning another twitch of his partner's ears. "In fact, why don't you let Vaan relieve you, Fran?" He inquired. "You have been up longer than I, and I recall you having to take over the watch for the both of us when I fell asleep last night."

Vaan nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Fran. I can take over. I can't sleep anyways." It would at least be something to pass the time. Soon enough it would be his turn to take over the watch with Penelo anyways.

Fran looked suspiciously at Balthier. "You would do better to take up the offer yourself." She said. Vaan thought he heard a trace of concern in her voice. It was fleeting though. He wished he had seen more viera back in Rabanastre. They were so foreign and he longed to be able to understand them and read them. It was easy to tell when Penelo was worried, and Ashe made it clear when she was annoyed. Vaan wished that the viera could be as easy to read as Hume women. Though, he thought, that would probably make Fran a lot less interesting.

"Nonsense, my dear," Balthier replied in a smooth voice, taking one of her hands and kissing it. "You are far more deserving of sleep than I." Vaan rolled his eyes and secretly hoped Fran would give him one of her death glares. One of the things he had picked up from viera was that they were not easily swayed by silver-tongued sky pirates trying to get their way.

Fran didn't react to Balthier's gesture but stood up anyways. "Very well. Although, if you complain to me tomorrow, I shan't have any pity for you."

"I would expect none." Balthier smiled.

Fran brushed the sand from her body and began to walk back towards the campfire. "Thank you, Vaan." She said, giving him a slight nod.

"Hey, no problem." Vaan said, smiling and nodding back.

Balthier watched Fran as she lay down near the warm flames, and then turned his attention to Vaan. "Are you going to remain standing all night?" He asked.

"What? Oh." He sat down next to the older man.

Vaan stared off at the sea. He couldn't see much through the curtain of the night, but he could make out the tall spires of rock against the starry night sky. If he squinted, he could see the waves rolling lazily against the shore. The noise was cyclic and foreign. It wasn't anything like the desert wind that picked up the sands and scattered them around Rabanastre, but it was calming nonetheless. And he found he could appreciate the lulling sounds now that he wasn't trying to fall asleep. He let his mind wander.

It was a few moments before he decided to speak. "So, Balthier," He began. Balthier made a soft noise to show he was listening. "Are you and Fran, um… you know…"

"Ah, so the real reason you couldn't sleep was that you were pondering the secret life of sky pirates, was it?" Balthier said sarcastically.

"No! Just, I dunno. It popped into my head."

"Just like the age question, I suppose?"

Vaan groaned. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"No. And neither will Fran. Or probably your girl, for that matter."

Vaan gave a grunt and placed his head in his hands. "You're impossible." He informed Balthier. The pirate chuckled.

"You aren't the first to say that." He said.

There was a short moment where all that was heard was the crackling and popping of the fire and the rolling of the waves. Vaan wasn't used to being alone with Balthier. there had been the one time in Nalbina, but that had only lasted a moment before Vaan had wandered off to explore. Every other time Fran had been nearby, and if not her, one of the other members of their party. It was kind of unnercing, especially with the sky pirate's uncanny knack for language. It was something else Vaan was unused to. In Rabanastre, everyone had been straightforward about what they said and people were easy to talk too.

Vaan decided to let the silence brew. He just wanted to listen to the ocean and attempt to scan the horizon.

"This your first time seeing the ocean?" Balthier decided not to go along with Vaan's silent plan.

"Yeah." Vaan answered. He didn't feel like putting any effort into the conversation.

"What do you think of it?"

Vaan didn't answer right away. "It makes me feel small," he conceded. "I mean, I can't even begin to imagine what might be on the other side." It was the truth. The desert was vast, but the ocean was wider. And deeper. It was so unlike anything he'd ever encountered. It was really an experience to make him feel trivial. He saw Balthier nod out of the corner of his eye.

"It does that to me as well." The pirate said. "I first saw the sea not too long ago- I was only a bit older than I imagine you are now." He shook his head at the memory. "I'd hardly begun my career and was still trying to figure out the _Strahl_. She was a difficult girl to manage when she didn't come with an instruction manual."

Vaan turned to look at him, genuinely interested. "You stole her?"

Balthier raised an eyebrow. "I prefer 'liberated', myself, seeing as she was due for scrapping." He explained. "She's a prototype model, one of a kind, the only ship in her class in all of Ivalice. I can't imagine why the man who commissioned her didn't want her. She's far too fine a ship. Or she was, once Nono and Fran got through with her. Before that, she had a habit of making unepected landings. One such happening was here on the Coast."

Vaan laughed. "So, you weren't always the suave, know-it-all prick you are now?" It was always strange listening to people talk about how they were when they were "his age." Migelo used to try and use that as motivation. He'd say things like, "When I was your age, we had to walk uphill both ways through the Dalmascan Estersand, fighting off Wild Saurians with our toes because our arms were so full of sundries that we could barely move!" To which Vaan would reply, "Well, it sounds more exciting than walking downhill both ways through non-dangerous Rabanastre. Can I try?" Migelo would promptly laugh at him and tell him to be thankful for his blessings.

"Believe me Vaan, I was far worse in the past." Balthier said, smiling.

"Really?" Vaan asked sarcastically.

"Yes, really."

"Huh." Vaan grunted. There was another pause. "So why'd you do it, anyways?" He said, deciding to take conversation over the distant sound of the ocean.

"Do what?" Balthier asked, caught off guard.

"Become a sky pirate."

Balthier whistled softly. "That, Vaan, is a long and interesting story, and I'm not sure I can tell you tonight and do it justice." He leaned back on his elbows to show he was resigned to rest and didn't feel like elaborating.

"Oh, come on! We've got time! Penelo and I weren't supposed to take over for you and Fran for another hour." Vaan exclaimed, not giving up easily.

"True as that may be, it does not belay the fact that neither you nor I are very much awake for any sort of good story."

Vaan pouted. "I _told_ you, I am awake-"

"Then why don't you tell me why it is your desire to become a sky pirate?" Balthier prompted. "Seeing as I am quite fatigued." He flashed Vaan a grin.

Vaan looked taken aback. "How do you always manage to turn the conversation on me?"

"It's a gift. Comes with being the leading man."

The boy scoffed. "Fine." He said, but didn't respond right away. The dream of being a sky pirate had always been somewhere within him. He'd heard the stories of the great sky pirates who stole from the rich and gave to the poor when he had been a boy growing up in Rabanastre. He used to play sky pirate with Reks and his friends, even though he usually got to be the bad guy that was chased around with wooden swords. Reks had taken him to the aerodrome a dew times to admire the airships and watch them take off. Since Reks' death, however, Vaan's desire had grown. Piracy promised a freedom that he had lost when the news of his brother's death had reached him. It was a promised escape from the monotony of the empire in the city and the grief that cycled through him and ll of his friends. "I guess it's because it's the only way to get away from it all. I mean, sky pirates- you guys don't have to worry about the wars going on, or the empires taking over, or where you go, where you'll live and what you'll see. You've got the whole _sky_, and the sky is everywhere. It's not like this sand, or a desert that ends at a cliff or an ocean. The sky is infinite, you know?" He said finally.

"Save for the Jagd." Balthier pointed out.

"Then I'll steal some of those skystones the imperials use that can fly in Jagd." Vaan said, not one to be underminded. "I don't want to be limited, you know? I don't want to have to have people tell me to stay in Lowtown, stay in the city walls, stay inside all the time. I want to do what I want, when I want."

"You think that's all pirating is, then? Doing what you want, when you want, and the consequences be damned?" Balthier asked incredulously, sitting up and throwing his arms and some sand into the air. "Boy, I tell you that if it were that easy, I wouldn't have bothered tagging along in your little quest. If I could do what I wanted when I wanted, well, let's just say Ivalice as we know it would never be the same." And enormous grin spread across his face, and it quickly dropped. "Pirating is much more work than you give it credit. For one, you've got fine gentlemen like B'Gamnan-" He said the name with a spitting noise in the back of his throat. "-after you all the time, you have to deal with an airship and maintenance, you need to worry about food and shelter just as much as anyone else. And if you have a partner, well, there's them to consider often."

"You and Fran don't seem to have trouble." Vaan pointed out.

"Fran and I… well, you'd be surprised." Balthier laughed. "I'm sure you've figured out that Fran and I are not easily swayed. She more than myself. She's not like any Hume woman I've ever met. Them, I can pretty much make do what I like. If Fran were like that, I'd probably be dead, considering the number of times she's saved me from my own stupidity. I was not the brightest boy when I started, not at all. I had nary a shred of common sense. Much like you."

"So, if it's all that hard work, why do you do it?" The boy asked, choosing to ignore the insult. "I mean, you don't seem like the kinda guy who's into working all the time."

"I didn't say it was all the time, now did I? You are right about being free, Vaan. My _Strahl_, she's my passport to Ivalice. The sky is the limit, apart from the Jagd of course. And it's worth it." He sighed and gestured to the ocean hidden in darkness before him.

Vaan squinted to try and see what Balthier was pointing out. Not able to make out anything more than he already had, he turned to look quizically at the pirate beside him. "Why?"

"Because I am in love."

Vaan raised an eyebrow. "You're in love." He repeated dubiously. "You… seem kinda too sarcastic to be in love."

"Obviously, you don't understand love, either." Balthier said with a sarcastic grin.

Vaan glared. "I know about love."

"You do, do you?"

"Yeah."

"All right. Tell me; what does it feel like to be in love?"

"I…" Vaan faltered. He _did_ know about love, but he had no idea how to explain it. How do you explain that feeling that tightens in your chest when you get that small glimpse of freedom? He could feel little glimmers of it when he successfully pic-pocketed an unspecting Archadian, when he watched the kids whose parents had been lost in the war running around Rabanastre smiling, when Kytes praised him for being the best rat slayer of anyone, when Penelo smiled at him. It was there when he had first set foot on the _Strahl_ and the engines had roared. He felt it when he defeated a monster and even Ashe praised him. "It's kind of like… this feathery feeling in your chest, right?" Vaan said at last. "I mean, it's not something you can describe. But it doesn't make you a sarcastic, wise-crack _leading man_. I know that."

Balthier just laughed.

"Hey, you be quiet! If you're so in love, who are you in love with?" Vaan retorted, hoping to catch the pirate off guard. What he wouldn't give to see the silver tongued leading man stutter and make a fool of himself.

Balthier raised his eyebrow. "I think sleep is catching up to you. You are acting slower than usual. Did I not make it clear where my affections lie?" He asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Vaan thought a minute, not realizing he was the one who was being made to guess again. "… Fran?"

Balthier rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, but-"

"Ashe?"

"Gods, boy, is there some kind of magick in your system that's making you speak nonsense?" Balthier sputtered.

"It's not nonsense! I saw you flirting with her earlier today!" Vaan said quickly, trying to press his advantage. It was true-- Balthier had spent a good while talking with the Princess earlier that day and wandering behind the group. Vaan hadn't been able to hear what they were saying, but judging by what he knew of Balthier's character, the answer seemed obvious.

"You'd call that flirting? I'd call it using my gifted silver tongue to steer our dear Princess in the right direction. As in, away from dangerous stones and other such nonsense." Balthier retorted.

"That was totally flirting." Vaan laughed.

Balthier groaned in exasperation. "You are a clueless churl, Vaan."

Vaan thought a moment, trying to think who else Balthier could possibly be in love with. A conclusion reached his mind, and his eyes narrowed. "If you say you're in love with Penelo, I might have to kill you."

Finally snapping, Balthier yanked the hair on the back of Vaan's head and forced him to look up. "See those stars, Vaan? The moon? The stretch of infinity above our heads? I am in love with the sky. With freedom, with the promise that no day will be the same. With the idea that I am only a small piece in the world, but that I can impact it if I so desire, because the only limit imposed on me is what you are looking at."

Vaan made a small "oh" noise. "That makes sense," He said, sitting back up and smacking Balthier off of him. He smiled as a thought crossed his mind. "And I'm glad you told me. I was almost going to guess Basch next."

This earned him a smack on the head with the butt of Balthier's gun. "You are such a child, Vaan." He sighed, shoving the weapon back into its holster for the second time that night. But he was smiling. He leaned back, resting on his elbows and trying to see the waves through the dark. "You remind me of myself."

Vaan grinned, leaning back to imitate Balthier. "Oh yeah?" He would never admit it, but he admired the sky pirate sitting beside him.

Balthier nodded. "You know, when we first met, I too made the mistake of asking Fran how old she was."

Vaan laughed. "And how'd that turn out for you?"

"Well," The pirate said, laughter on his lips. "She was far less gracious towards me, I can tell you that. I think I had a black eye for at least three weeks afterwards."

"Wow. And you still wanted to be partners?"

"Vaan, one hardly turns down the help of a tall, beautiful woman. Let alone one who is good with both swords and wrenches. Especially when one is an eighteen year old boy who had never seen a Viera properly before."

"Hmm," Vaan sighed. The waves crashed. The stars and moon shone overhead. And there was silence.

"So, are you two quite done being so loud?"

Both Vaan and Balthier jumped and turned around suddenly to see a sleepy looking Penelo standing directly behind them.

"Penelo! Don't sneak up on people like that." Vaan stuttered, smacking sand in her direction and missing miserably.

"Oh, like you did to Fran and myself?" Balthier inquired of Vaan, grinning after getting over the surprise of being startled a second time.

'I didn't sneak up on Fran." Vaan retorted. "And you just didn't notice cause you're deaf."

Balthier rolled his eyes, and then yawned. "Is it your turn to take over, girl?" He asked, ignoring the boy beside him.

Penelo nodded. "Yeah, I think so. You can go to bed, Balthier." She offered politely.

The pirate rose, dusted the sand from his pants, and bowed to the girl who had come to relieve him. "You have my deepest thanks." He said in a gentleman's tone. Vaan scowled as Penelo blushed.

Balthier began to wander back to the campfire. "Don't go nodding off, you two. And don't get too distracted by each other's company either." He winked. Penelo blinked in confusion, and Vaan scowled.

"What's that supposed to mean?He demanded. Balthier just smiled, turned, and continued the short walk to the campfire.

"Just forget him," Penelo said, sitting down next to him on the sand. Vaan looked at her, glad once again to see her familiar face, her braided pigtails and bangs that framed her face. She glanced back at him. "What?" She asked.

Vaan shook his head. "Nothing." He turned his head back to listen to the rolling of the waves. Penelo sighed contentedly. "They sound so unfamiliar, but beautiful. I'm glad we're here." She reached out and touched his hand gently.

"Yeah." Vaan agreed, settling into his spot. He breathed in deeply and tasted the foreign salty dampness of the air.


End file.
